When the big duties in life come charging into your periphery, from marriage and kids, to the more boring things in life like bill paying, developing your own skills falls down the ranks of importance. For every parent out there that haven’t even got time to eat a meal in one sitting, the idea of developing their self-education is a flight of fancy. But, if you’re getting to the point in life where you are looking to start working again, or you’re trying to find the right shoe that fits, career-wise, it’s vital that you keep your skills up-to-date, no matter how limited they may appear to be. This is why learning at home can be a great option, but how can you do this?

Finding The Right Resources

One simple word, internet! Yes, it’s very obvious, but if you spend your time idly checking your social media, it’s time to put the internet to some good use. When you have made the conscious decision to go back into work, but you don’t know how to do it, you can begin by taking advantage of the numerous free courses out there, but don’t underestimate something like YouTube. For example, there are plenty of TED talks that can inspire and educate. This is very handy if you don’t know what you want to do just yet, and from there, you can partake in online courses that you can do in your own time, and these are numerous. You could master operations management, as well as other business courses, or you could take advantage of the free taster courses that are provided by resources like FutureLearn, that gives you an opportunity to delve into a subject without having to pay for anything. This is, arguably, the most useful part of developing your self-education at home, because you can get a plethora of information on how these specific industries work. And from there, you can decide whether you want to do that or not.

Planning Your Education Around Your Children

And then, once you have decided what you want to do, you have to put in the hours. When we have children, this isn’t easy, but like so many parents out there that don’t just stay at home to look after their children, but actually do a full-time job in their own home, it’s all about setting boundaries. But the first port of call is to get a feel for your children’s routine, which, let’s face it, you will know by now. If your children nap at a certain time, then you know that you’ve got a specific window to get something done. And this is the key; doing a little bit here and there will add up to a lot. We can place pressure upon ourselves to do a lot of work, either because we feel we need to make up for lost time, or we are so impatient that we want to get on with it now. And this approach, as well as doing an hour every day, will add up to 5 hours a week and at the very least 20 hours a month!

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I'm Kirsty, a Mum to Ellie (5) and Trixie (3), blogging about our Eco Friendly, Foodie, Family Lifestyle.
On this blog you will find plenty of recipes from salads to cakes, as well on our latest tips to live a little more Eco friendly and tips to reduce household waste.
I am completely Pinterest and Instagram obsessed and find them great places for inspiration.